Canterbury Tales
The National Director of SOMA UK and National Director of SOMA Southern Africa travelled today to visit Canterbury, 7 days after they had a special tour of Westminster Abbey.
Very Revd Buli Wooley meeting with the duty Chaplain at Westminster Abbey, along with Revd James and Beatrice Arinda from Uganda. The tour included a behind the scenes visit to the shrine of Edward Confessor and the tombs of Kings of England (where the current King robed for the Coronation).
They were speaking at SOMA Partner Church, St Mary Bredin, which has a compelling vision to be an ‘Abbey’ for the region - mirroring the vision of the original church planter St Augustine, whose communities of prayer birthed new communities of disciples all over England.
They found a church in good heart, with mission partners from YWAM, Friends International and UCCF among those gathered for a missions Sunday. Encouragingly God was speaking to members of the congregation, with one student sharing a picture at the end which was an exact match into what Richard had seen while praying on his knees for the church.
On the way they stopped to see the ruins of the old Abbey and the Cathedral behind it. There is a wonderful sense of history and much to reflect on in the ruins of the old abbey. You can see from the ruins how in God’s providence churches can rise and fall. What is it that can keep a nation / national church faithful to him? Richard had been reading Discipleship on the Edge by Darrell Johnson - a brilliant walk through Revelation in 30 chapters, that describes how even the blessed church of Ephesus, with former clergy/bishops including Paul, Timothy and John, and congregants including Mary the Mother of Jesus, was ‘about to be spit out’ of Jesus’ mouth as they had lost their first love.
We then proceeded into the Cathedral, which has been widely seen as the ‘mother church of the Anglican Communion.’ What would the Jesus of Revelation say to the ‘angel of the church at Canterbury?’ That is quite a question to pray into.
Watch Very Revd Buli Wooley’s moving interview at St Mary Bredin, Canterbury here.
